Iraqi Resistance Report for events of Friday, 8 August 2008. Translated and/or compiled by Muhammad Abu Nasr, member, editorial board, the Free Arab Voice. 

Friday, 8 August 2008.

·        Tribal “Awakening” policeman gunned down south of Baghdad as regime launches security assault in Babil Province Friday.

·        Al-Qa‘idah suspected in car bomb attack on civilian market in Tall ‘Afar Friday evening.

·        Iraqi army arrests two members of pro-Iranian Jaysh al-Mahdi militia near al-Basrah Friday.

Baghdad.

Jaysh al-Mahdi ready to dissolve should US withdraw from Iraq, spokesman claims.

In a dispatch posted at 7:30pm Baghdad time Friday evening, the Yaqen News Agency reported that Salah al-‘Ubaydi, spokesman for the pro-Iranian Shi‘i sectarian Sadr Movement, announced on Friday that the movement’s armed wing, the Jaysh al-Mahdi militia, was prepared to disband as soon as US occupation forces leave Iraq.

Yaqen reported al-‘Ubaydi as saying that the Sadr Movement is in transforming the Jaysh al-Mahdi militia into a social-cultural organization, but said that this would not be carried out until after the American forces leave Iraq or set a timetable for a withdrawal in accordance with an agreement between Iraq and the United States such as is under negotiation.

Al-‘Ubaydi said that the fact that no agreement has been reached until now is the reason why specific cells of the Jaysh al-Mahdi have remained, to carry on the resistance whenever that is necessary.

US detains two members of Iranian-backed “Special Detachments” near Baghdad.

In a dispatch posted at 6:20pm Baghdad time Friday afternoon, the Yaqen News Agency reported that US forces had announced that they had detained two members of the Iranian-backed “Special Detachments” in the ar-Rashid area to the west of Baghdad on Friday.

Yaqen reported a US communiqué as saying that the raid against the Iranian-backed fighters was based on intelligence information

Diyala Province.

Al-Miqdadiyah.

US troops arrest three pro-American Sunni-sectarian politicians in Diyala Province, Thursday afternoon.

In a dispatch posted at 2:25pm Baghdad time Friday afternoon, the Yaqen News Agency reported that US troops raided the homes of three Diyala Province officials in the area of al-Miqdadiyah, 85km northeast of Baghdad, Thursday afternoon.

Yaqen reported a source in the province as saying that the Americans stormed into the home of the Assistant Governor of Diyala Province, Dr. Hafiz al-Jabburi; the Chairman of the Administration of the Sunni Waqf (Pious Endowments), Shaykh Hasan al-Mulla; and the Chairman of the Municipal Council of the al-Miqdadiyah area, Ra‘d ‘Abd Jasim at-Tamimi.  The US knew the owners of the houses before conducting the raids, the source said, adding that the Americans made no arrests of any of the bodyguards serving the three officials.

Yaqen noted that Hafiz al-Jabburi and Ra‘d at-Tamimi are both members of the Sunni-sectarian Iraqi Islamic Party, which has been collaborating with the US occupation regime since it was established in 2003.  Two weeks ago, at-Tamimi responded to the issuance of an arrest warrant against him by turning himself in to the Iraqi regime authorities, but he was later released after the charges against him reportedly were “proved unfounded.”

Babil Province.

Al-Iskandariyah.

Tribal “Awakening” policeman gunned down south of Baghdad as regime launches security assault in Babil Province Friday.

In a dispatch posted at 12:16pm Baghdad time Friday afternoon, the Yaqen News Agency reported that gunmen shot and killed an official in the tribal “Awakening” police as he road his motorcycle in the al-Faris area of Jurf as-Sakhr, 40km south of Baghdad, on Friday morning.

Yaqen reported a source in the Babil Province police as saying that the attack coincided with an offensive launched by the Iraqi regime with US support in the city of al-Hillah, 100km south of Baghdad – the capital of Babil Province.

Colonel Salim Watwat, commander of the “Falcon Force” of the government police announced that the police had conducted raids and searches, rounding up 35 people in the al-‘Askari neighborhood, Ghaydah, and al-Iskan in the al-Iskandariyah area, 40km south of Baghdad.

Ninwa Province.

Tall ‘Afar.

Al-Qa‘idah suspected in car bomb attack on civilian market in Tall ‘Afar Friday evening.

In a dispatch posted at 8:35pm Baghdad time Friday night, the Yaqen News Agency reported that a car bomb exploded in the middle of a popular market in Tall ‘Afar, 60km west of al-Mawsil in northern Iraq on Friday evening.

In an update at 9:20pm Baghdad time Friday afternoon, Yaqen reported a source in the government police as saying that an explosives-laden car that had been parked in the middle of a popular market in the ‘Ulwah al-Mukhaddar area of Tall ‘Afar, blew up, killing 18 people and wounding 55 more.

Since 10 May, the US and its Iraqi regime allies have been waging an offensive against the al-Qa‘idah organization, known for its car bomb attacks, in al-Mawsil and surrounding Ninwa Province.

Al-Mawsil.

Bomb wounds three Iraqi army troops in al-Mawsil Friday.

In a dispatch posted at 5pm Baghdad time Friday afternoon, the Yaqen News Agency reported that a bomb exploded by a patrol of Iraqi army troops in the al-Intisar Neighborhood of eastern al-Mawsil, 420km northwest of Baghdad on Friday.

Yaqen reported a source in the provincial government as saying that the blast wounded three troops, one of them gravely.

Al-Basrah Province.

Al-Basrah.

Iraqi army arrests two members of pro-Iranian Jaysh al-Mahdi militia near al-Basrah Friday.

In a dispatch posted at 6:50pm Baghdad time Friday afternoon, the Yaqen News Agency reported that Iraqi army forces arrested two members of the pro-Iranian Jaysh al-Mahdi Shi‘i sectarian militia in raids in the districts of az-Zubayr (35km southwest of al-Basrah) and al-Qurnah (100km north of al-Basrah).

Yaqen reported a source in the army as saying that the Iraqi military also uncoverd a factory for making bombs in a residence in the az-Zubayr area.  The raids also yielded a find of more than 80 Kalashnikov assault rifles.

Since March, the US-backed Iraqi regime has been actively engaged in an offensive against the pro-Iranian Sadr Movement and its armed wing, the Jaysh al-Mahdi militia, in Iraq, in what is believed to be preparation for an American attack on Iran.

Sources:

http://www.iraq-amsi.org/news.php?action=view&id=26996&dbfd8968f32a3a2184536cc975ae680a

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